Standing before us arguing with Lucy and John were none other than Cygnus and Druella Black, looking extremely angered.
I could see a vein in Cygnus's forehead protruding to the point where everyone in the room could see it throbbing, his face turning a violet shadefrom theanger that rolled off of him in waves.
"That's rubbish, and you know it! How could you all do this to your own child? You selfishly put the weight of our world on her shoulders, not to mention his too." Cygnus growled as he pointed to Tom.
Druella's hair looked as if it was fire, her red hair glowed as if it had a mind of its own. Her blue eyes looked as if were a solid icy blue. The scowl on both their faces told me something bad had just happened and judging by the way the room was divided.
I could see most of the inhabitants of the house disagreed with whatever started the argument.
Even Andi and Ted stood behind Druella and Cygnus. Much to my surprise.
"I am well aware of the mistake I've committed. You don't need to remind me of this—" Lucy said, through tight lips.
"Then you should know you are wasting your time by being here. Your presence isno longer needed here. The time where we all needed you is long gone. You should've stayed dead." Druella said, repeating the same thing Seamus had said almost two nights ago.
I saw hurt flash in the eyes of the woman, who considered herself my mother- by name that is. Wanting to get to the bottom of the situation.
"What is going on here?!" Tom interrupted, stepping in the space between us and the argument.
"Tell them. Tell them or we all will." Druella seethed, as she looked directly at Lucy.
I noticed Merope step farther into the room, stopping briefly by Tom to hand Adley over to him.
He quickly took her into his arms, before he walked over to where I stood by the door.
The room became eerily quiet as Merope stepped farther into the room. She looked over to Lucy before turning to look at Tom and me, something she saw in us made her let out a tired sigh before she spoke a few moments later.
"Lucy, it is time for you to explain to our children why you did this. Stop evading the subject and tell them. Tell them why you did this. Why you separated everyone, broke two families apart, for whatever reasoning you had." She said, her voice solemn.
Lucy gave her a fierce look before narrowing her eyes at the breakfast bar between us and them. Before turning to look at up at us.
"Fine. I did it to protect everyone. I knew that if our daughter grew up with us, she wouldn't have gotten the thick skin she needed to battle Nikolai two years ago. As a mother, you try to protect your children from anything and everything that could or may hurt them. I thought this was the only way to protect them both. It was the only way to avoid the prophecy from happening earlier." Lucy explained, not a hint of remorse in her voice.
"Andi?" I asked, trying to keep my voice even.
"Yes, Annie?" She asked, turning to me in question.
"Please take Arlo. Now." I said as I felt my anger get the best of me. "Ted, would you and Andi mind taking the twins out of the room, please?" I asked.
He simply nodded, quickly going over to Tom and carefully taking Adley from them.
I felt as Tom quickly stepped closer to me as if to attempt to calm me down.
"Remember when I warned you the other day to step back before you got hurt? Well, had you actually listened to a word I said and bothered to actually attempt to give her space rather than force yourself where you're clearly not wanted, You would havelet her calm down enough to listen to you. Maybe even consider your ridiculous reasoning.Now, you've only managed to force her to push you away, perhaps more than before. You've probably severed any hope or chance you could've had." Tom said, before hugging me close to him.
I felt my anger dim the slightest, that is until Lucy spoke again.
"This isn't how I raised you. You are better than to hold a grudge." She attempted to scold me.
"Raised me? From what I hear you left me as soon as I turned eleven, Merope was the one who stayed when you left, that is until you took her from us too. You don't deserve credit for something you left without giving a second thought. I may be your daughter biologically, but you are no mother to me. You haven't been for a long time. I feel sorry for that little girl you had, my younger sister. She's probably got a better chance of letting you into her life. Since you kept her." I sneered, feeling anger begin to pump in my veins.
'Sophie, love, I need you to stay calm. You don't want our babies getting hurt, do you? Think of all the babies within the house, love. I promise we can leave if that's what you want. Just calm down for a few moments.' He thought, clasping my hand.
I looked at him, squeezing his hand before taking a calming breath.
"Merope, while it was nice to see you, and talk to you. I want to thank you for telling us how close we were and how we grew up." I said, look solely at her.
She smiled sadly at me, before turning to look at Tom with the same sad look.
"Annie, I want you to know that our house will always be open to the four of you, darling. You are not alone, nor have you ever been orwill you ever be." Druella said, pulling me into a fierce hug.
I whispered a watery 'thank you' to her before turning to look at everyone in the room.
"I think I may know someone who can help us recover all our lost memories. He's recently just got back from New York." I said.
Tom turned to raise an eyebrow at me in question.
"Do you remember Newt Scamander?" I inquired, smirking.
"The Hufflepuff that began following you around like a lost puppy throughout our fourth year?" He asked, snorting.
"Precisely him. He- he is a Magizoologist and works for the Ministry of Magic. He—he... oh, let's just say he owes me a favor. He can help us with something." I said looking at Tom.
"So, where is the old chap anyway?" He asked, the others leaning in closely.
"London, England." I answered, smirking at him.
"Meaning we have to travel back all the way to London?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow at me.
I nodded in response, smirking at him, before speaking with him through the bond, all the while keeping eye contact.
'So, when would you like to leave?' He asked casually.
'As soon as possible. We either apparate there or travel through floo powder.' I suggested.
'Or we can travel the muggle way, rent or acquire a car.' He suggested, amused.
I was shaking my head at him before he even finished the thought.
"I know that you're both loving that fact that you can speak without uttering a single word out in the open, but would you mind let the rest of us in on the conversation?" Sirius asked.
"We're leaving to find an old acquaintance of Sophia's. He's somewhere in England, of course, but that means we have to head out as soon as possible," Tom informed them.
"When?" Sirius asked, inclining his head to one side in question.
"As soon as possible," Tom replied, placing an arm around my waist.
"We'll go with you. We-we can all help." James and Sirius said, looking at us.
"I'll see if our home is available. I recall Evangeline saying she was heading back last week to meet a few acquaintances." Sirius said before apparating out of the kitchen.
"Let's start getting everything ready to move then," I said.
"Before you go. We should probably inform you that we'll be taking our leave as well. We expect a visit from you along with my other daughters." Druella said, smiling at me before hugging me again.
As soon as everyone scattered around the house, Tom and I quickly went to get the twins from Andi and Ted and informed them of our leave as well.
I thanked them for helping me before heading into my room and laying Arlo in the bassinet along with Adley.
I quickly folded and put everything away in my trunk, before shrinking everything. Before I began to shove everything into my bag, along with the pram, and rocking chair before looking at Tom.
"I need you to hold onto the twins to yourself, tightly." He said as I wrapped both of them in warm blankets.
I nodded as I flicked my wrist and made sure the room looked as it did before we had gotten here.
I slowly pulled each of the babies into my arms before looking at Tom, who had my bag along with his already hanging securely around his torso.
He walked over to me, slowly passing me, taking our wands and slipping them into one of the bags. Before turning to face me, proceeding to envelope us in a tight embrace.
I felt the familiar feeling as the ground disappeared from beneath us, feeling as if I was inserted into a tight rubber tubing, the pressure behind my eyeballs increase as we traveled back to London, England.
When I felt the floor appear beneath my feet once more, I opened my eyes to see we were across the street from 12 Grimmauld Place.
Home of the second Black family in London.